The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that wetlands be protected from degradation because of their important ecological functions including maintenance of high water quality and provision of fish and wildlife habitat. However, this protection generally does not encompass riparian areasâ€"the lands bordering rivers and lakesâ€"even though they often provide the same functions as wetlands. Growing recognition of the similarities in wetland and riparian area functioning and the differences in their legal protection led the NRC in 1999 to undertake a study of riparian areas, which has culminated in Riparian Areas: Functioning and Strategies for Management. The report is intended to heighten awareness of riparian areas commensurate with their ecological and societal values. The primary conclusion is that, because riparian areas perform a disproportionate number of biological and physical functions on a unit area basis, restoration of riparian functions along America's waterbodies should be a national goal.

Riparian Areas of the Southwestern United States: Hydrology, Ecology, and Management provides hydrologists, watershed managers, land-use planners, educators, policymakers, and non-governmental organizations with a comprehensive account of the multiple benefits and conflicts arising from the uniquely structured ecosystems of arid and semi-arid regions. The text describes the inhabitants of southwestern riparian ecosystems and addresses the research, planning, and management concerns for these fragile ecosystems in relation to the impacts of water and sediment flows, livestock grazing, and other human activities, and the maintenance of key wildlife and fish habitats.

This book describes the underlying water conditions and geologies that support viable riparia, illustrates the ecological characteristics of riparia, and discusses how riparia are used by human cultures as well as how riparia can be used to sustain environmental quality. In recent years riparian management has been widely implemented as a means of improving fisheries, water quality, and habitat for endangered species. This book provides the basic knowledge necessary to implement successful, long-term management and rehabilitation programs. Treats riparian patterns & processes in a holistic perspective, from ecological components to societal activities Contains over 130 illustrations and photos that summarize this complex ecological system Synthesizes the information from more than 6,000 professional articles Sidebars provide a look into ongoing research that is at the frontiers of riparian ecology and management

The demand for water resulting from massive population and economic growth in the southwestern U.S. overwhelmed traditional uses of riparian areas. As a consequence, many of these uniquely-structured ecosystems have been altered or destroyed. Within recent years people have become increasingly aware of the many uses and benefits of riparian zones a

The purpose of this report is to review and summarise published research on the efficiency and management of riparian buffer zones (RBZ) with respect to the attenuation of sediment and nutrients, and biodiversity enhancement. While there have been numerous studies on the efficiency of RBZ with respect to sediment and nutrients, many of these studies have been small-scale and site-specific. Therefore, a review of these studies needs to consider an assessment of the catchment scale factors that influence the effectiveness of RBZ in attenuating catchment loads.